Looks like I am watching a lot of viral videos these days. I had just written about the LG MiniBeam campaign earlier today and a few hours later I come across this! This is a recent video by Volvo who has signed up famed action star Jean Claude Van Damme – all of 53 doing an unbelievable split whilst standing between two Volvo trucks moving in the reverse. The video is part of a campaign by Volvo that promotes the company’s new Dynamic Steering technology that has been incorporated on to its trucks. Now, this might be the most awesome piece of advertisement this year and possibly one of the best campaigns ever. With over 30 million views already, it is clear that people are liking it too. I mean just watch it. It’s beautifully made. And for Van Damme to do such a split at 53 is simply mind boggling. Volvo has confirmed that while there were safety precautions – including harnesses used in the video, that split is as real as Manmohan Singh’s silence. Here, watch it..
Now, I am sure most of us Bollywood watching Indians might have felt a sense of déjà vu upon seeing this ad. Remember Phool Aur Kaante? The 1991 flick starring Ajay Devgan and Madhoo? Well, watch how Ajay Devgan makes his grand entry into his college in this film back then. Instead of watching the “real” version, better watch this spoofed version made by a fellow Indian YouTuber who has edited out the audio from the original movie and juxtaposed with the dialogues and the Enya sound track from the Volvo video!
You can’t help but notice the uncanny similarity between these two. Makes me wonder if there was an Indian movie buff behind this Volvo campaign!? Or can we just say that this Volvo campaign was heavily inspired from a 22 year old Indian movie!? Or is this sheer co-incidence?
